Heat insulated bottle



Sept. 12, 1967 J. sANDLr-:R

HEAT INSULATED BOTTLE.

'5 sheets-sheet 1 Filed Aug. 13, 1963 INVENTOR. JACK SA NDL ER BY Mol /mof.

AGEA/T Sept. 12, 1967 J. SANDLER HEAT INSULATED BOTTLE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed Aug. 13. 1963 FIG.9

FIG. 8

INVENTOR SA N DL ER JAC/1 J. SANDLER 3,341,045

HEAT INSULATED BOTTLE.

3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. SANDLER l l l JACK Sept. 12, 1967 Filed Aug.13, 1965 m U m United States Patent O 3,341,045 HEAT INSULATED BTTLEJack Sandler, Florham Park, NJ., assigner, by mesne assignments, to AirReduction Company, Incorporated, New York, N Y., a corporation of NewYork Filed Aug. 13, 1963, Ser. No. 301,750 17 Claims. (Cl. 21S-13) Thisinvention relates to a heatsinsulated bottle. It is a general object ofthe invention to provide for a bottle an insulating covering which isvery simple and highly economical, while at the same time attractive andreadily cleanable.

Rigid plastic foam, or expanded plastic, is shown as an insulatingmaterial to be interposed between discrete elements which are to beinsulated from each other, such for example as an inner bottle and anouter shell. In conventional such arrangements the outer shell would bea rigid or self-supporting one; in turn it is to it that there would besecured any handle or the like intended for manipulation of the insertedbottle. I have observed, however, that a rigid expanded-plasticreceptacle may be used not merely for its insulating etfect but also asthe principal strength-providing element of the insulating covering-thetoughness of the covering being augmented, and a desired exteriorappearance and smoothness and cleanability being provided, by anitself-not-rigid skin which tightly surrounds the expanded-plasticreceptacle and may typically be of exible plastic. The resulting veryinexpensive product, beside being attractive and readily cleanable, isat once exceptionally light and extraordinarily resistant to mechanicalshock.

According to one general aspect of the invention the covering isconstituted by a rigid expanded-plastic receptacle member, a flexibleplastic skin by which the receptacle member is tightly surrounded, the.bottle fitting within the receptacle member and having a restrictedneck protruding from the top extremity of that member and therebelow ashoulder, and a flexible plastic inverted saucer centrally apertured forand tightly surrounding the bottle neck and peripherally secured to theskin. Prefera-bly the bottle neck is provided with an undercut and theinverted saucer tightly surrounds the neck Within the undercut. Aflexible plastic base may be peripherally secured to the skin and mayextend across the bottom of the receptacle member.

According to another general aspect of the invention the bottle isretained within a rigid expanded-plastic receptacle member which issurrounded by -a exible plastic skin, and an external handle is securedto and at the side of the receptacle member which then forms both aninsulation for the bottle and a coupling between the bottle and the sidehandle. More specifically, a portion of the inner surface of thereceptacle member may be spaced from the bottle, and there may extendalong that portion a retaining strip from which a pair of spaced-apartstuds extend through the wall of the receptacle member, an externalhandle being secured to those studs.

In one embodiment of the invention the inverted saucer mentioned abovemay bear against the bottle shoulder and may form a means retaining thebottle within the receptacle member. In another embodiment thereceptacleV member may be a tubular one again tightly surrounded by atiexible plastic skin and having an inwardly extending shoulder adjacentits top extremity; the bottle may I'it within the receptacle member withits restricted neck protruding from the top extremity of that member andwith its shoulder therebelow bearing against the member shoulder, land aflexible plastic base may be peripherally secured to the skin and maybear against the bottom of the bottle while remaining free of directcontact with the 3,341,045 Patented Sept. 12, 1967 tubular receptaclemember itself. A rigid expanded-plastic disc may extend freely acrossthe receptacle .member at its bottom extremity and it may be throughthat disc that the base bears against the bottom of the bottle. Althoughlongitudinally free of the tubular receptacle member, the disc may bekeyed thereto as to rotary movement and Vmay further be adherent to thebottom of the bottle,

whereby to retain the bottle against rotation Within the receptaclemember.

The neck of the bottle may protrude from the receptacle and a closuremember may be removably attachable to the top of the bottle, and in turna cup may be fastenable in inverted orientation about the attachedclosure member. According to an aspect of the invention the periphery orlip of the cup may then press against the inverted ilexible plasticsaucer mentioned above, which thus forms a sealing means for the cupperiphery. Multiple camming means myay advantageously be used to fastenthe cup in the positioii mentioned above wherein it presses against theinverted saucer.

It is sometimes desirable with an insulated bottle to provide a secondcup which may be held within the first cup on top of the bottle.According to an aspect of the invention the closure member which isattached to the top of the bottle and about which the first cup isfastened in inverted orientation is provided with a peripheral flange,and the ysecond cup is held in inverted orientation within, and with itslip resiliently pressed against that flange by, the fastened rst cup.Cam means in the angle between the sidewall and ilange of the closuremember may guide the second cup into position before the fastening ofthe iirst cup. t

For the tight sealing of the mouth of the bottle the closure member maybe provided with a gasket which is compressed against the lip of thebottle when the closure member is attached; alternatively a stopperseparate from the closure member may be used. According to an aspect ofthe invention the stopper may be in the form of a tianged pan of whichwhen in upright orientation the upper peripheral wall tits tightlywithin the bottle mouth upon pressing of its ange downwardly toward thebottle lip; the closure member may have an annular surface whichconstrains the liange downwardly toward the lip; and means may beprovided within the closure member for lremovably retaining the stopperiiange substantially in that position relative to the closure memberwhich it occupies when the closure member is attached to the bottle overthe stopper.

It is sometimes desirable that the bottle proper at the time of assemblyinto the receptacle be already lled with some commodity which is toremain therein until after the sale of the insulated bottle, and in sucha case the bottle proper will ordinarily be sealed at least by aV disc,of paper or plastic, extending across its mouth and adherent to its lip.In such a case it is, then, impossible t0 assemble the stopper inupright orientation. According to an aspect of the invention the closuremember may be upwardly recessed to accommodate the body of the stopper,whereby optionally to permit the closure member to be attached to thebottle with the stopper in inverted orientation on top of the bottle.The means for removably retaining the stopper ange, terminally mentionedin the preceding paragraph, may perform its function Whichever be theorientation of the stopper.

According to a process aspect of the invention a prestretcvhed partiallyopen-ended sock of flexible plastic material such as vinyl may be shrunkonto a rigid expandedplastic receptacle member with its partially openend at the top extremity, and with its other end open and overhangingthe bottom extremity, of that member; a ilexible plastic base may beinserted within the overhanging portion of the sock', and the base maybe peripherally welded to the sock. The iinal stepjust mentioned mayinclude the trimming off of the excess of the sock overhanging theinserted base. The sock may rst have been formed by welding theperiphery of a centrally apertured iiexible plastic saucer to one end ofa flexible plastic sleeve.

According to one speciiic procedure the steps mentioned above arefollowed vby stretching to greater' openness the partially open end ofthe sock, inserting the bottle bottom-first into the receptacle memberthrough the thus stretched sock end, and shrinking the sock end intoengagement with the bottle neck. According to another specic procedure,useful when the receptacle member is internally shouldered adjacent itstop extremity and is open at its bottom extremity, the step of shrinkingthe sock onto the receptacle is followed by the step of inserting thebottle neck-rst through the open member extremity until its shoulderabuts against the shouldering of that member; that insertion step may befollowed by the inserting of a rigid expanded-plastic receptacle bottomwithin the overhanging sock portion and against the bottom of thebottle.

Various particular objects of the invention, which importantly includethe accommodation of the structure and process to such variations ofdimensions of the elements (and especially of the bottle) as are to beexpected in mass production, have been made apparent by or are implicitin the foregoing brief description. Allied and other objects will beapparent from the following detailed description and the appendedclaims.

In the detailed description reference is had to the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIGURE l is a vertical view, in central cross section except for thebottle proper, of one form of insulated bottle according to theinvention;

FIGURE 2 is a view, principally elevational but partly in section, ofthe inverted centrally apertured saucer incorporated in the structure ofFIGURE l;

FIGURE 3 is a similar view of the base incorporated in the FIGURE lstructure before its incorporation there- FIGURE 4 is an elevationalview of the closure member incorporated in the structure of FIGURE l;

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of that closure member;

FIGURE 6 is a view, principally elevational but partly in section, ofthe iirst or outer cup of the FIGURE l structure;

FIGURE 7 is an elevational view of theV second or inner cup of thatstructure;

FIGURE 8 is an elevational view of the FIGURE l structure;

FIGURE 9 is a perspective view of the receptacle member incorporated inthe FIGURE l structure, with one quadrant of the receptacle broken awayfor purposes of better illustration;

FIGURE 10 is a perspective view of the retaining strip incorporated inthe FIGURE 1 structure for the securing of the handle to the receptaclemember;

FIGURE 11 is a vertical view, generally similar to FIGURE 1, of anotherform of insulated bottle according to the invention, the upper lefthandportion of the gure being elevational (with the cups omitted -other thanfor dash-dot indications of their positions FIGURE 12 is a view,generally similar to FIGURE 2, of the inverted centrally aperturedsaucer incorporated in the FIGURE 1l structure;

FIGURE 13 is a perspective view of an arbitrary half of the receptaclemember incorporated in the FIGURE 11 structure;

FIGURE 14 is a perspective view of the receptacle bottom incorporated inthe FIGURE ll structure;

FIGURE l5 is a fractional vertical cross-sectional view of the topportion of the FIGURE l1 `structure with the stopper thereof in aninverted orientation within the closure member;

FIGURE 16 is a perspective view of the retaining strip inc-orporated inthe FIGURE ll structure; and

FIGURE 17 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional View through the meanssecuring the lower end of the handle to the receptacle member of theFIGURE 11 structure.

Reference being had to FIGURES l and 9, there will be seen an uprightgenerally cylindrical receptacle member 10 having a closed bottom, thesidewall 11 of the member being preferably slightly convex in itsexterior course from the top to the bottom extremity and the upper outercorner 12 being preferably rounded off. This member may be of plasticfoam, or expanded plastic; typically it may be of expanded polystyrene,but polyurethane (preferably with its voids containing a gas such asFreon) may for example be substituted with some increase both of thermalinsulation efficiency and of cost. This receptacle member may have aplurality (for example four) of narrow longitudinal ribs 13 eachextending for a limited distance inwardly, these ribs being for exampleuniformly spaced angularly from each other.

The bottle 1, which among other things may have a cylindrical sidewall 2terminating at its bottom in a rounded (i.e. progressively bevelled)lower corner 3, ts within and is laterally supported by the ribs 13,which will be made of suflicient radial dimension to touch thesmallest-diameter bottle encountered in production. The material of themember It) renders very strong any section of it of substantialdimension; the ribs being narrow, however, they will yield withprogressive crushing to the localized camming force of the lower corner3 of a slightly-greatar-diameter bottle during an operation ofprogressive insertion thereof into the receptacle member from thetop-though once the bottle is inserted the ribs are amply strong toresist any distributed lateral force of the bottle, and will thereforenot further yield in a bottleloosening manner.

The reference of the preceding paragraph to the bottle 1 does not implythat it is inserted into the receptacle member 10 as an initialoperation in the assembly of the insulated bottle, and is here includedsimply to explain the ultimate good lit of bottle within receptaclemember in spite of production variations in dimensions of the twoelements (and particularly of the diameter of the bottle).

A exible plastic skin 19 tightly surrounds the receptacle memberlil-ie., encircles its sidewall. This skin may typically be of exiblevinyl (i.e. polyvinyl chloride), and its surface may be grained andfinished to provide any desired appearance. It may conveniently beseamed into the form of a sleeve prior to its assembly to any otherelement, this seaming being done by overlapping and by welding, by thepassage of high-frequency electric current through the overlap, betweenappropriate electrodes (at least one of which may if desired be aroller) in manner itself well known in the art.

At the top of the receptacle member 10 there may extend across it aflexible plastic inverted saucer 20 which is centrally apertured to passthe neck of the bottle 1; this saucer may typically -be of exible vinyl.It may be peripherally secured to the skin 19-typically by theoverlapping of its peripheral portion 4over the top edge portion of thesleeve-formed skin and the welding of the overlapped portions (not yetin contact with the receptacle member 10) in appropriateelectrode-constituting dies by the use of high-frequency electriccurrent. This saucer 20, which may be formed by molding and ishereinafter more detailedly described, is separately illustrated inFIGURE 2.

This securing of the inverted saucer 19 to the sleeveformed skin 20 maybe considered to result in a partially open-ended sock. This sock may bestretched by known techniques :and while stretched drawn over and thenshrunk onto the receptacle member 10, with its partially open end at thetop extremity, and with its other end open and overhanging the bottomextremity, of that member.

A exible plastic base 30, which may for example be of flexible vinyl andwhich is separately illustrated in FIGURE 3, may be inserted within theoverhanging portion-of the sock and into abutment against the bottom ofthe receptacle member 10. 'I'his base may for example comprise arelatively thin disc 31, an intermediate downwardly extending circularange 32, and a peripheral downwardly expending ange 33 whose exteriorsurface as originally formed in the molding of the base may be slightlyinwardly tapered in the downward direction. The base 30 may beperipherally secured to the skin 19 by welding in appropriateelectrode-constituting dies by the use of high-frequency electriccurrent; these dies may desirably be arranged slightly to reshape t-helower portion of the peripheral flange 33 (and the skin 19 in contactwith that portion) during the welding, to result in a slight expansionof that lower portion seen at 33a in FIGURE l. As an incident to thewelding of the base to the skin, and either before or after the actualwelding (afterward being preferred), the excess iof the sock may betrimmed off.

At the top of its sidewall 2 the bottle 1 may be rounded inwardly toform the shoulder 4, above which the bottle may comprise the neck 6;preferably immediately above the shoulder the neck will be provided withan undercut 5. The height of the shoulder 4 from the bottom of thebottle, relative to the internal height of the receptacle member 10,.issuch that the shoulder 4 of the inserted bottle will be disposedslightly below the level of the top of the receptacle member. Thecentrally apertured inverted saucer`20 mentioned above comprises theperipheral flange portion 23 which is the portion welded to the skin 19as above described; a dat washer-shaped portion 21 which when the sockof which it forms a partially open end has been drawn over thereceptacle member will lie against the top of the receptacle member; andan intervening rounded portion 22 which will then lie against therounded upper outer corner 12 of the receptacle member. The saucer 2,0may further comprise on top of the fiat portion 21 at its inner edge aslight upwardly extending flange 25, and on the bottom .of that ilatportion for a distance outwardly from the inner edge a boss 24 shapedcomplementarily to the shoulder 4 of the bottle.

When the bottle has been inserted (for example in manner next described)the inner periphery of the centrally apertured inverted saucer 20,including the flange 25, will tightly surround the neck of thebottle-within the undercut 5 if that be provided as preferred. At thesame time the boss 24 of the saucer will bear downwardly against thebottle shoulder 4, so that the saucer forms a means retaining the bottlewithin the receptacle member, or in other words a cap for that member.

The illustration of FIGURE 1 may be considered to portray the minimumbottle-shoulder height and the maximum receptacle-member height;increases of the former or decreases of the latter due to productionvariations will be accommodated by a resilient upward displacement(relative to the outward portions of the saucer of the .inner portion,including the boss 24 and liange 25, ofthe saucer. k

The receptacle member 10, skin 19, saucer 20 and base 30 having rst beenassembled together, for example in manner above described, the bottle 1may be insertedV into the receptacle member. This insertion may beaccomplished Iby stretching to greater openness the partially open endof the sock (i.e. the central aperture of the saucer 20), which may bedone by the use of techniques themselves known; next inserting thebottle bottom-first into the receptacle member through thethus-stretched sock end (i.e. saucer 20); and then shrinking that sockend (i.e. saucer 20) into the tight contact with the bottle neck whichhas been described above.

The foregoing procedure, in which the bottle 1 is inserted only afterthe assembly together of the receptacle member, skin, saucer and base,is particularly advantageous When for -any good reason-for example arequirement that the bottles rst be filled with some commodity andthereafter subjected to minimum handling, or a requirement that thebottle insertion rbe effected at a location Where it is inconvenient tocarry on plastic operations, or the likeit is desired to defer thebottle insertion to the latest practicable time. While for such reasonsthat procedure is preferred, the process aspects of the invention arenot in all respects necessarily limited thereto; thus in an alternativeprocedure the bottle may rst have been inserted to within the receptaclemember before -there is performed the step of shrinking theprestrertched sock onto that member.

It is to be noted that both the preferred and the alternative procedurespermit the securing together of the skin 19 and saucer 20-i.e. thecreation of the sock-while those elements remain unassembled to thereceptacle member 10. This permits access during the securing operationto both sides of the overlap of those elements -which is a greatfacilitation to a good joint, however made, and is indispensable tohigh-frequency inter-electrode welding. Y

Attention may be directed to the provision of a handle for the insulatedbottle; in such provision the covered expanded-plastic receptacle membermay perform, beside its insulating function, the function of providing acoupling between the bottle and the handle. To this end the innersurface of the receptacle member 10 may have a portion spaced from Vthebottle; although the inter-rib areas are inherently so spaced, it may bedesinable to provide such a portion even further recessed and this hasbeen indicated in FIGURE l as the longitudinally extending recessedportion 18. Fitting partially into this recessed portion is a retainingstrip 44 from which there extend at least salmost through thereceptacle-member sidewall 11 upper and lower studs 45 and 46, suitableholes having been drilled through the skin 19 and the sidewall 11 topass such studs. The retaining strip 44 and studs 45 and 46 mayconveniently form a single piece, itself illustrated in FIGURE 10,integrally molded of plastic such for example as linear polypropylene.Largeaheaded rivets 47 and 48 may extend from externally into theserespective studs and be secured therein as by cement, and a handle 40,itself preferably a lamination of two layers of exible plastic such asvinyl, may be held under the rivet heads. Prefenably the top end of thehandle will be tightly held under the head of the upper rivet 47, whilethe lower end will =be loosely held under the head of the lower rivet 48and will be provided with an elongated hole 42 about the rivet shank topermit the handle to be either flat or bowed.

There remain to be dealt with further details of the bottle neck 6,which protrudes upwardly from the receptacle member 10 and invertedsaucer 20, and the parts around rand above that protruding neck. Theneck of course encircles the open mouth 9 of the bottle, the neck andmouth terminating in a lip 8 which forms the uppermostsurface of thebottle. The neck may be externally provided with an outwarly formedcoarse screw thread 7, for example .of a little over 360 in angularextent, and onto the thus-threaded neck there may be removablyiattachable a closure member 50.

The closure member 50 may for example be an inverted dish-like member ofrelatively rigid plastic, such for eX- ample as linear or high-densitypolypropylene or polyethylene. It may comprise a generally disc-likeportion 51, a sidewall 52 extending downwardly from the portion 51, anda liange portion 53 extending outwardly from the sidewall S2. Adjacentthe sidewall 52 the portion S1 may be provided with an upward bulge 54and upwardly into this bulge there may extendfrom within the closuremember an undercut groove 55 whose cross section may for example be aslightly truncated ellipse and into which there may be forced a Igasket56 of exible plastic such as vinyl. The sidewall 52 may be internallyprovided with an inwardly formed coarse screw vthread 57, for example ofabout 540 in angular extent, by means of which the closure member 50 mayIbe screwed downwardly onto the bottle neck 6 until the gasket 56 istightly seated on the bottle lip 8; under these conditions the bottom ofthe sidewall 52 will still remain slightly spaced above the invertedsaucer 20. The closure member, besides appearing in cross section inFIGURE l, is shown in elevation in FIGURE 4 and in plan in FIGURE 5.

A cup 60 may be fastenable in inverted orientation about the attachedclosure member 50 and may then peripherally (i.e. at its lip) pressdownwardly against the flexible inverted saucer 20 to seal the spacewithin the fastened cup. To provide for such fastening the flange 53 ofthe closure member may be provided with a number, for example four, ofinward notches 59 uniformly spaced angularly about its periphery, andfrom each of those notches clockwise toward the next (as seen from thetop) the thickness of the flange 53 adjacent its periphery may begradually increased to form a respective camming surface 53e; theseveral thus-downwardly-thickened portions of the flange 53 may mergeinto a small circular rib 53h extending downwardly from the flange alittle inwardly of its periphery.

The cup 60 (seen separately in FIGURE 6) may itself be of simpleformation, with the slightly tapered sidewall 62 terminating in a lip 63and with a base 61 which for a purpose hereinafter apparent may beexternally slightly convex; it may be formed of relatively rigid thoughresilient plastic similar to that mentioned above for the closure member50. Close to its lip 63 the cup 60 may be internally provided with foursmall inward protrusions or lugs 64, which as the cup is being movedinto place over the closure member 50 will pass downwardly through therespective notches 59; thereafter a clockwise rotation of the cup willcarry the lugs 64 along the respective camming surfaces 53e` to forcethe cup gradually downwardly and its lip thus into increasing pressureagainst the top of the flexible inverted saucer 20.

The flange 53 may be provided with an upwardly thickened inner portion53a, among other things for strength. When a second and slightly smallercup is to be provided that portion 53a may act as a slight upwardprotrusion about which the mouth of that second cup may be fitted withthe cup in inverted orientation. Such a second cup has been illustratedin FIGURE l (and separately in FIGURE 7) as 65; except for its slightlysmaller size, and for a preferably plane base and an absence of anylugs, it may be quite similar to the cup 60. It will of course be placedin position prior to the moving into place of the first cup 60; itsvertical dimension relative to that of the first cup may be such that asthe fastening of the first cup (as above described) is being completedthe central inner surface of the first-cup base 61 will come intocontact with the central outer surface of the secondcup base 66, so thatthe final completion of the first-cup fastening will be attended by aslight yielding of the cup bases and will resiliently press thesecond-cup lip 68 against the flange 53 of the closure member. Smoothlyand certainly to guide the second cup into position a number, forexample four, of triangular camming means 58, each in the f-orm of athin vertical triangular web, may be provided in the angle between theclosure-member sidewall 52 and the flange 53.

FIGURES 1l through 17 illustrate a modified form of insulated bottleaccording to the invention. The structure of these figures employs areceptacle member 80 (separately seen in FIGURE 13) of material similarto that of receptacle member 10 but of tubular form and having adjacentits top extremity an inwardly extending shoulder 84; again the sidewall,now 81, of the receptacle may be slightly convex, and again thereceptacle member is provided with longitudinal ribs, now 83, whichfunction similarly to the ribs 13 of the earlier structure. The bottleproper, which in this embodiment is to be inserted into the receptaclemember from the bottom, is designated as 71. It may be generally similarto the bottle 1 of earlier figures, but its shoulder 74 may be somewhatlower relative to its lip 78 and the rounded (i.e. progressivelybevelled) corner which first contacts the ribs 83 during insertion ofthe bottle is the corner 73 just below the shoulder 7 4. The neck 76 ofthe bottle is now rendered longer by the inclusion of a lower neckportion 76a, which may be of slightly greater diameter, with theundercut 75 intervening between that portion and the rest of the neck.

The receptacle member is covered with a flexible plastic skin 89, quitesimilar to the skin 19 of earlier figures. Again at the top of thereceptacle member there may extend across it a flexible plastic invertedsaucer, now 98, which is centrally apertured to pass the neck of thebottle. This, seen unassembled in FIGURE 12, may be generally similar tothe inverted saucer 20, but it will omit any such boss as 24 of thatsaucer and the small flange 25 of that saucer may be replaced by aslightly thickened and upwardly curved portion adjacent the centralaperture; the portion 95, in slightly stretched state, will tightly gripthe bottle neck within the undercut 75.

It will be understood that in correspondence with the earlier procedurethe inverted saucer 90 will be peripherally secured to the skin 89 toresult in a partially openended sock, which will be stretched and drawnover and then shrunk onto the receptacle member 80, with its lower endoverhanging the bottom extremity of that member. Thereafter the skin andreceptacle member may be suitably apertured for the studs 115 and 116 ofthe handleretaining strip 114; this strip (separately shown in FIG- URE16) may be generally similar to the strip 44 above described, but it mayfor example be thinner so as not to require extra recessing such as 18,and its studs may be provided with a specifically different bore fordifferent handle-attaching means as hereinafter described.

At this stage the bottle (whether empty or filled) may be insertedupwardly, neck first, through the open bottom extremity of thereceptacle member until its shoulder 74 abuts against the shouldering 84of that member.

A flexible plastic base is to be inserted within the overhanging portionof the sock (skin 89) at the bottom of the receptacle member and is tobear against the bottom of the bottle (which phrase I use in a broadsense to denote bearing of the bottle bottom and the base, either oneagainst the other). It is, however, desirable that this bearing bethrough an intermediate insulating element. This element (separatelyseen in FIGURE 14) may be a receptacle bottom 85 in the form of a discof expanded plastic similar to that of the receptacle member 80, fittingfreely within the bottom end portion of the receptacle member; desirablyit will be keyed to the receptacle member to preclude relative rotation,for which reason it is shown as including the outwardly projecting lugs86 which freely fit within corresponding keying recesses 87 in thebottom end portion of the receptacle member. It will be inserted,following the insertion of the bottle, into abutment against the bottlebottom, preferably with a daub of cement first applied to one or theother of those elements in order to secure the bottle against rotationrelative to the element 85 (and this, in view of the keying, relative tothe receptacle member 80). It is after the insertion of the receptaclebottom 85 (if that be employed) that the base 100, itself seenseparately in FIGURE 1.4 and generally similar to the base 30 of earlierfigures, is inserted and welded to the skin 89 and the excess of thatskin trimmed off, in correspondence with the earlier disclosure.

In order to accommodate bottles of slightly varying heights it isdesirable that neither the base 100 or the receptacle bottom 85 bearupwardly against the receptacle member 80 (unless in the limiting caseof the very smallest-height bottle); the receptacle member is madesufficiently short, and its kcying'recessed s uiiiciently dimensionedvertically, to achieve this result.

At this stage the handle 40 may be attached to the studs 115 and 116,which are already in place. By way of example there have beenillustrated (in enlarged detail in FIGURE 17) rivet-like fasteners 117and 118 each having a shank which has a reduced-diameter portion towardits extremity and on that reduced-diameter portion a triangularlycross-sectioned peripheral bead 117a or 118:1, while at an appropriateposition within the bore of each stud is a co-acting triangularlycross-sectioned peripheral bead 115a or 116a. The act of insertion ofthe fastener is a forcing of its bead past the stud bead (which isaccommodated by the flexible nature of the stud material), whereupon thefastener will be locked in place by the beads without t-he need for anycementmg.

In the structure of FIGURES ll through 17 there has by way of examplebeen illustrated a closure member 120 from which there has been omittedany gasketing arrangements such as 54-55-56 of earlier figures, and withwhich there is employed a separate stopper 140; the latter may lirst bedescribed. It is in the form of a flanged pan comprising a base 141, aperipheral wall 142 very slightly tapered at the top and somewhat moretapered at the bottom, and a flange 143 extending outwardly from the topof that wall. When the pan is in upright position the upper portion ofthe wall 142 may t downwardly into and tightly Within the bottle mouth79, upon pressing of the ange 143` downwardly toward the bottle lip 78.Y

The closure member 120' may have a sidewall 122 and ange 123 entirelysimilar to those of the closure member 50,V while the outward portion ofits top may be a simple annular or washer-shaped portion 121. When theclosure member is in place on the bottle the annular lower surface ofthe portion 121 is disposed over the stopper ange 143, and as theclosure member is attached by screwing into place that surfaceconstrains the ange 143 downwardly toward the bottle lip 78 to result inthe tight t of the stopper wall 142 in the mouth 79 or" the bottle.Desirably the stopper may be so dimensioned as to permit the seating ofthe stopper liange 143 against the bottle lip 78 before the engagementof the stopper wall 142 with the bottle mouth becomes so excessivelytight as to preclude further stopper movement, but this is notindispensable. On the other hand if the stopper wall 142 be excessivelysmall or the bottle mouth excessively large, the stopper ange 143,acting as a gasket, will serve to seal the closure even in the absenceof the intended tight engagement of stopper wall with bottle mouth. A

It is desirable, that when the closure member 120I is off the bottle, itbe capable of retaining the stopper at- Y tached to its in order tominimize the number of separate elements to be handled. By making theldiameter of the stopper flange 143 essentially as great as the internaldiameter of the closure member above its thread 127 and just below theannular portion 121, the thread 127 is caused to be a means whichremovably retains the stopper flange substantially in that positionrelative to the closure member which it occupies when the closure memberis attached to the bottle over the stopper. The retaining action may 4bemade even more positive by relying as well on the internal upper surfaceof the closure-member wall 122 to frictionally engage the stopperflangeperiphery, the stopper-flange diameter being appropriately established.

There are circumstances, such as the initial sale of the structure withthe bottle proper filled with some commodity and then sealed by a discover the bottle lip, under which the stopper cannot always be assembledin the position just described. To accommodate the stopper under suchconditions the closure member may be upwardly recessed, starting at theinner limit of the annular por- 10 tion 121 and as indicated at 119, toaccommodate the body of the stopper; this optionally permits the closuremember to be attached to the bottle with the stopper in invertedorientation on top of the bottle, as fractionally illustrated in FIGURE15. The means above described for removably retaining the stopper flangewithin the closure member will be equally eiective in the case of thisorientation of the stopper.

The cups 60l and 65 and the arrangements of the closure member for theirretention may be the same as those of earlier figures, and need not bere-detailed.

It will =be understood that in each of the embodiments of the inventionthe heat insulation provided by the receptacle member (and in the secondembodiment by the receptacle bottom as well) is augmented to some degreeby the space between the bottle and the receptacle member, and that aconsiderable heat-insulating effect is provided by the space between theclosure member and the cup irst encountered in an outward directiontherefrom, as well as by the inter-cup `space when two cups areprovided. A particular merit of the disclosed embodiments is the highdegree to which these spaces therein are rendered true dead-air spaces.

While the vinvention has been disclosed in terms of particularembodiments thereof, it will =be understood that those embodiments areby way of example and that no unnecessary limitations are therebyintended. Modications in many respects will be suggested by thedisclosure to those skilled in the art, and such modifications will notnecessarily constitute departures from the spirit of the invention -orfrom its scope, which it is undertaken to express in the followingclaims.

I claim:

1. In combination, a rigid expanded plastic receptacle member, a exibleplastic skin by which the receptacle member is tightly surrounded, arigid glass bottle tting within the receptacle member and having at itstop a restricted neck protruding from the top extremity of that memberand below said neck `a shoulder, and a flexible plastic inverted saucercentrally apertured for and tightly engaging said neck and peripherallysecured to vsaid skin, wherein said flexible plastic invertedrsaucerbears against said shoulder and forms a means retaining the bottlewithin the receptacle member.

2. The subject matter claimed in claim 1 wherein said neck above saidshoulder is provided with an undercut, and wherein said exible plasticinverted saucer tight engages said neck within said undercut.

3. The subject matter claimed in claim 1 further including a tlexibleplastic base peripherally secured to said skin yand extending across thebottom extremity of the receptacle member.

4. The subject matter claimed in claim 1, wherein said rigidexpanded-plastic receptacle member has a plurality of inwardly extendingnarrow longitudinal ribs, and said bottle has a generally cylindricalmain vertical portion terminating at one of its extremities in abevelled corner, the ri'bs being suiciently yieldable to accommodatewith longitudinally progressive crushing the insertion into thereceptacle with said one extremity iirst of said bottle slightly largerin cross-sectional area than the area available between the ribs butbeing strong enough to resist any distributed lateral force of theinserted bottle.

5. The subject matter claimed in claim 1, further comprising an externalhandle secured to and at the side of the covered receptacle member, saidcovered expandedplastic receptacle member forming both an insulation forthe bottle and a coupling between the bottle and said side handle, saidhandle extending radially from said receptacle member.

6. The subject matter claimed in claim 1, wherein said rigidexpanded-plastic tubular receptacle member has top and bottomextremities and has an inwardly extending shoulder Iadjacent its topextremity, a flexible plastic skin by which the receptacle member istightly surrounded,

said bottle fitting within the receptacle member having at its top arestricted neck protruding from the top extremityof the receptaclemember and below said neck a shoulder bearing against said membershoulder, and a flexible plastic base peripherally secured to said skinand positioned to be in bearing relationship to the bottom of the bottlebut out of bearing relationship to the bottom portion of said tubularreceptacle member.

7. The subject matter claimed in claim 1, further comprising a closuremember removably attachable to the top of the bottle, and a cupfastenable in inverted orientation about the attached closure member andthen peripherally pressing against said saucer.

8. The subject matter claimed in claim 7 further including multiplecamming means for fastening said cup as stated in that claim.

9. The subject matter claimed in claim 1, further comprising a closuremember, having a sidewall and a peripheral ange extending outwardlytherefrom, removably attachable to the top of the bottle, a first cupfastenable in inverted orientation about the attached closure member,and a second and smaller cup held in inverted orientation within, andwith its lip resiliently pressed against the llange of the closuremember by the so-fastened first cup.

10. The subject matter claimed in claim 1, further comprising a closuremember having a sidewall and a peripheral flange extending outwardlytherefrom, removably attachable to the top of the bottle, a first cupfastenable in inverted orientation about the attached closure member, asecond and smaller cup held in inverted orientation by and within thefirst cup with its lip against the flange of the closure member, and cammeans in the angle between the sidewall and flange of the closure memberfor guiding the second cup int-o position before the moving of the rstcup into position about the closure member.

11. The subject matter claimed in claim 1 wherein said bottle has at itstop a mouth terminating in a lip, a stopper, for closing said mouth, inthe form of a flanged pan of which when in upright orientation the upperperipheral wall lits downwardly into and tightly within said mouth uponpressing of its flange downwardly toward said lip, a closure memberattachable to the bottle over said mouth and over the stopper and havinga surface which when the member is thus attached constrains said langedownwardly toward said lip, and means carried within said closure memberfor removably retaining said llange substantially in that positionrelative to the closure member which it occupies when the closure memberis attached to the bottle over the stopper.

12. The subject matter claimed in claim 1 wherein said bottle has at itstop a mouth terminating in a lip, a stopper, for closing said mouth, inthe form of a flanged pan of which when in upright orientation the upperperipheral wall lits downwardly into and tightly within said mouth uponpressure of its flange downwardly toward said lip, said closure memberbeing upwardly recessed to accommodate the body of the stopper Wherebyoptionally to permit the closure -member to be attached to the bottlewith the stopper in an inverted orientation on top of the bottle.

13. The subject matter claimed in claim 12, further including meanscarried within the closure member for removably retaining said llange,with the stopper in either upright or inverted orientation, in thatposition relative to the closure member which it occupies when theclosure member is attached to the bottle over the stopper.

14. In combination, a rigid expanded-plastic cylindrical receptaclemember, a bottle fitting within the receptacle member, a portion of theinner surface of the receptacle member being spaced from the bottle, aretaining strip extending longitudinally along said receptacleinner-surface portion, a pair of spaced-apart studs secured to saidretaining strip and extending through the wall of the receptacle member,and an external handle secured to said studs.

15. In combination, a rigid expanded-plastic cylindrical receptaclemember having inwardly extending longitudinal ribs, a bottle fittingwithin the receptacle member and against the ribs, a retaining stripextending longitudinally along the inner surface of the receptaclemember between two of the ribs, a pair of spaced-apart studs secured tosaid retaining strip and extending through the wall of the receptaclemember, and an external handle secured to said studs.

16. In combination, a rigid expanded-plastic tubular receptacle memberhaving top and bottom extremities and having an inwardly extendingshoulder adjacent its top extremity, a flexible plastic skin by whichthe receptacle member is tightly surrounded, a bottle fitting within thereceptacle member and having at its top a restricted neck protrudingfrom the top extremity of the receptacle member and below said neck ashoulder bearing against said member shoulder, and a flexible plasticbase peripherally secured to said skin and positioned to be in bearingrelationship to the bottom of the bottle but out of bearing relationshipto the bottom portion of said tubular receptacle member, and a rigidexpanded-plastic disc which extends across said receptacle member at itsbottom extremity but out of bearing relationship to the bottom portionof that member and through which said base bears against the bottom ofthe bottle.

17. The subject matter claimed in claim 16 wherein said disc is keyed tosaid receptacle member as to relative rotation and is adherent to thebottom of the bottle, whereby to restrain the bottle against rotationwithin the receptacle member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,163,057 6/1939 Payson et al.21S-13 2,543,581 2/1951 Koski 215-13 2,921,706 1/1960 Johnson 215-122,994,448 8/1961 Sepe et al. 215-12 3,016,159 1/1962 Br-amming 215-133,032,224 5/1962 Shih-Woo-Lou 215-13 3,120,319 2/1964 Buddrus 215-133,121,522 2/1964 RagnOW.

3,214,830 11/1965 Piker 215--13 3,221,915 l2/1965 Gort et al. 215--13FOREIGN PATENTS 574,577 3/1958 Italy.

JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Pri/nary Examiner.

FRANKLIN T. GARRE'IT, Examiner.

R. PESHOCK, Assistant Examiner.

1. IN COMBINATION, A RIGID EXPANDED PLASTIC RECEPTACLE MEMBER, ISFLEXIBLE PLASTIC SKIN BY WHICH THE RECEPTACLE MEMBER IS TIGHTLYSURROUNDED, A RIGID GLASS BOTTLE FITTING WITHIN THE RECEPTACLE MEMBERAND HAVING AT ITS TOP A RESTRICTED NECK PROTRUDING FROM THE TOPEXTREMITY OF THAT MEMBER AND BELOW SAID NECK A SHOULDER, AND A FLEXIBLEPLASTIC INVERTED SAUCER CENTRALLY APERTURED FOR AND TIGHTLY ENGAGINGSAID NECK AND PERIPHERALLY SECURED TO SAID SKIN, WHEREIN SAID FLEXIBLEPLASTIC INVERTED SAUCER BEARS AGAINST SAID SHOULDER AND FORMS A MEANSRETAINING THE BOTTLE WITHIN THE RECEPTACLE MEMBER.